"The microservices architectural style simplifies implementing individual services. However, connecting, monitoring and securing hundreds or even thousands of microservices is not simple.A service mesh provides a transparent and language-independent way to flexibly and easily automate networking, security, and observation functions. In essence, it decouples development and operations for services.The Istio service mesh is split into 1) a data plane built from Envoy proxies that intercepts traffic and controls communication between services, and 2) a control plane that supports services at runtime by providing policy enforcement, telemetry collection, and certificate rotation.The near-term goal is to launch Istio to 1.0, when the key features will all be in beta (including support for Hybrid environments)The long-term vision is to make Istio ambient."